


Here Comes Santa Claus

by OnceUponAGalaxyFarFarAway



Series: Stormpilot Advent Calendar Part II [1]
Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, M/M, Minor Jessika Pava/Rey, Office Party, Secret Santa
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-01
Updated: 2017-12-01
Packaged: 2019-02-09 04:22:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,111
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12880092
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OnceUponAGalaxyFarFarAway/pseuds/OnceUponAGalaxyFarFarAway
Summary: Poe's the Secret Santa for Finn, the one guy in the office that Poe is too nervous to talk to. Cue drama.





	Here Comes Santa Claus

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! So, last year I did an Advent Calendar, where I tried (emphasis on tried) to put up a new one shot every day up until December 24. I didn't manage to get them all done in time, but it people seemed to like it, so I've decided to do another one! I've planned out most of the days already, so I'll ideally finish the series on time this year.

Poe looked over the slip of paper and, for the millionth time that day, let out a little groan of despair, rolling on the couch and covering his face with a hand. _Finn._ Of course, out of everyone in their little office, he was Secret Santa to the cute new guy. The other had started a little over a month ago, and Poe was still working up the nerve to say something more to him than his morning greeting at the coffee machine.

Jess and the others had all been trying to get him to talk to the other, but the guy was easily the best looking man Poe had ever seen. Normally, Poe wasn’t daunted by a handsome face, but the guy also happened to be an amazing person as a whole. He had taken it upon himself to learn everyone’s name his first day, so that he could say hi to them each morning, and he would always bring treats that he or his aunt had made for the office, and he was just always _so_ nice. Poe groaned again.

“I’m doomed, Jess.” he mumbled, voice muffled.

Jess didn’t look away from the TV, rolling her eyes. “You are not doomed, drama king. If anything, this is the perfect chance to say something to him! Give him a heartfelt present, and ask him out! Invite him to your Christmas party or something!”

Poe turned over to look at her, looking affronted “I can’t do that!”

“And why not?” Jess asked, turning to him with a challengingly look in her eye. Poe looked down, suddenly sheepish.

“I dunno! He makes me nervous, with his face, and his niceness… Jess, it’s not fair!”

Jess rolled her eyes again, not impressed at all. “You fly planes and do flips and shit for fun, and it’s a _guy_ that makes you nervous?” When Poe’s distress didn’t fade, she eased up a little. “Poe. It’s going to be fine, okay? You’re the best gift giver I know.”

“But I don’t even know him!” Poe got up to pace, tapping his fingers against his chin. “I don’t know what he likes, or anything! And don’t even suggest a _gift card_ , that’s just a way of saying, ‘I don’t know what you like so I’m just going to give you the cash so you can do the job yourself.’ There are automated voice messages that are more personal than that!”

Jess sighed heavily, now focusing on him completely since he was blocking the TV. She took solace in the fact that he was starting to think about gifts, and not just draping himself over furniture to lament. “Why don’t you ask him?” Poe shot her a look and she huffed. “Alright, no asking, got it.” After a moment, she got an idea. “Hey, you remember that girl who came over for lunch a couple of weeks ago?”

Poe threw his head back and groaned. “Do you have to remind me of that _again_?”

“Relax, Poe, I found her Twitter, she’s as straight as a circle. Maybe you could ask her what Finn likes?”

The idea seemed to stress Poe out even more. “When? It’s not like I can just find her and be like ‘Hey, what does your friend want for Christmas?’ That would be creepy. What if you did it? Like, maybe ask her to coffee and just mention me?”

Jess raised a brow. “Are you trying to disguise your attempt to get me to do something for you as matchmaking?”

“No?” He replied weakly before nodding. “Yeah, I am. I really am. Please, Jess? I would owe you a favor, I promise.”

“Okay, how about this: I do this for you, and you ask Finn out. Deal?”

Poe looked anxious still, but he nodded firmly. “Deal.”

\-------

A couple of weeks later, Poe and Jess were wandering the mall together, on the hunt for a gift for Finn. It was packed with shoppers, and Christmas music was blaring over every speaker, contributing to the general festive/anxious feel of the holiday. Poe was still chattering Jess’ ear off, desperate to get the perfect gift.

“And you’re sure she said that something to do with London?” Poe asked again, for the umpteenth time as Jess sighed, also for the umpteenth time.

“ _Yes_. Something related to Britain. That’s what she said. Something to remind him of home.” Jess replied, rolling her eyes.

“Okay. Okay, we can do this. We can do this. We can --” Poe stopped dead in his tracks and Jess turned to look at him, startled by his wide eyes.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” Poe nodded his head forward, and Jess followed, catching a sight of Finn himself, walking with his friend, Rey. “Well, would you look at that!”

“Shit, shit, shit!” Poe hissed, looking frantically at her. “What do I do?”

“Um, nothing?” Jess replied. “Just keep shopping? Say ‘hi’?”

“No, no, I gotta, gotta…” he looked around before flinging himself behind a little stall selling cell phone cases.

“You’re being ridiculous, Poe,” she informed him, rolling her eyes.

“Shut up! Don’t look at me.” He whispered, peering over the counter when Jess walked, eyes growing wide as he realized where she was going.

At some point, Finn had vanished, but Jess was still walking over, greeting Rey with a smile and then, to Poe’s shock, a kiss. He continued to watch, eyes wide, as the two chattered and laughed before exchanging bags, presumably exchanging gifts. The pair then parted, waving to one another before Jess walked back to the little stall, and Rey walked into a nearby store.

Poe got to his feet, pointing an accusing finger at her. “You!”

Jess feigned innocence. “What? What did I do?”

“You… You…” Poe stuttered, pointing in the direction Rey had gone. “You two are together?! Since when?”

“Since Rey came to the office for lunch. She bumped into me on her way out and I spilled coffee all over my blouse. So she offered to help clean it up, and we’ve been going on dates occasionally.” Jess shrugged noncommittally.

Poe gaped at her. “And you didn’t tell me?!” Before she could answer, he paused. “Wait a minute… Were you already gonna go on a date with her when I asked?” When Jess didn’t answer, he groaned. “I can’t believe you!”

“Oh come on! I was going to tell you, but I wasn’t sure it was serious yet! We only started kissing that last date anyways! And besides, if you hadn’t owed me a favor, you wouldn’t have agreed to ask Finn out.”

“That is not true!” Poe protested.

“Yes it is! You literally said that you wouldn’t do it.” Poe ignored her, crossing his arms. “Come on, Poe. I wasn’t even lying! I did find her Twitter before I first met her, when I was looking at Finn’s profile to figure out more about her. And I meant it when I suggested you talk to her, you just put it on me and it worked out for me.”

Poe sighed a little bit. “I’m happy for you having a girlfriend and I get where you’re coming from, but I want to be mad at you.”

Jess snorted. “Well, sorry to be so hard to be mad at. C’mon, let’s find a good gift.”

Poe walked along with her, ducking into store after store, until finally, _finally_ , he found it. It was perfect. A snow globe of Big Ben, not too small, but not outrageously huge either, perfect fit for a mantle. He could’ve cried, holding the snow globe up in triumph for Jess to see.

They bought it and took the time to buy some other gifts before making their way back to their shared apartment. Even though Poe was relieved that he had found a gift, he found himself starting to worry a little. What if Finn didn’t like his gift? What if he already had something like this? What if, what if, what if. Poe shook himself out of it. At this point, there wasn’t much more he could do. He had the gift, all that he could do now was take a chance. All the same, the bag in his hand felt a little heavier.

\-------

The next week after that, Poe hesitantly put the wrapped box containing Finn’s gift under the little desk tree that was set up. There was a pretty solid variety of gifts, and, despite his slight nerves, a thrill went through him when he saw a box with his name scrawled on it. He could’ve sworn that handwriting was familiar....

“Poe!” Finn turned around, smiling when he saw Jess and Rey, arm in arm, pausing a little when he saw that Finn was with them, swallowing tightly.

“Oh, hey you guys. How’s it going?” He greeted weakly.

“Good, good,” Jess said absently. “Poe, this is Rey, Rey, this is Poe.”

Rey offered a kind smile, extending a hand that Poe shook. “Poe, I’ve heard a lot about you.” At that Finn made a slight choking sound. Before Poe could ask if he was okay, Rey had pressed on. “Anyways, just wanted to say hi, but Jess wanted to show me something, so, uh, babe?”

“Right!” Jess said, far too quickly. “So, uh, we’ll be right back, why don’t you two hang out a little bit?”

Before either of them could say anything, the women were already off, leaving the two alone with one another. Poe cleared his throat and Finn shifted from side to side.

“So--”

“So--”

“Oh, sorry, you go.”

“No, no, it’s okay, you go ahead.”

“No, really, it’s fine, you go ahead.”

“Poe. You go ahead, you started talking first.”

Poe bit his lip anxiously but offered a smile. “So, uh, what’s up?”

Finn chuckled a little, rubbing the back of his neck. “Not much? Just hanging out? I brought some cupcakes for the potluck.”

Poe looked over at the table, smiling a little at the mini cupcakes there. “Oh, those look good! I’ll have to get some soon.” After a moment, he asked, “So, uh, looking forward to the Secret Santa?”

Finn nodded quickly. “Yeah, I can’t wait, actually. Hopefully my person will like what they got. Who did you get?”

A jolt went through Poe’s heart at the question and he scrambled for a response. “I can’t tell you!” He said, a little too vehemently. He hurried to continue, voice lighter this time. “It’s a secret, what if they overhear or something, then it’s a bust. Besides,” he added, trying for a joke, “If they hate their gift, I don’t need to take credit, but if someone knows, they could narc on me.”

To his relief, that got a smile out of Finn. “I wouldn’t narc, if it makes you feel any better.”

Poe smiled back. “I appreciate that, buddy, but Secret Santa has to stay a secret.”

“Fair enough,” Finn said, still smiling at him.

Poe swallowed. Now. Now was his chance to invite Finn to his party. “So, uh, I was wondering if you wanted to--”

“Alright everyone, it’s time to start our Secret Santa game!” The two looked over to see their boss, Leia, coming in, and Poe sighed heavily.

Finn offered him a sympathetic smile. “Later?”

“Later, yeah.” Poe replied, joining the others in gathering around the tree, while Leia stood up front. She gave out a few gifts, watching as they were opened, and as the gift-getters tried to guess who it was from.

Eventually the gift that was for Poe was brought up, and he tore into the wrapper eagerly, grinning when the gift was revealed. It was a model of the Starship Enterprise, a good one too, every detail looking perfect. “Oh my god. This is amazing! Who was this? Snap?” The man shook his head. “No, okay. Kare?” She shook head too. “Okay, um… Who else…”

“It was me.”

Poe whirled around to stare at Finn, who was smiling a little bit at him. He smiled back on instinct, but he was panicking. Finn had given him such a perfect gift, and all Poe had given him a snow globe. A freaking snow globe. “O-Oh, um, thank you, buddy. Thank you so much, this gift, it’s… I mean, it’s incredible, I--”

Finn was frowning a little, concerned and confused, and Poe realized the other thought he didn’t like the gift. Fuck, fuck, fuck, this wasn’t what he wanted at all. Before he could say anything, Leia was holding up the next present, and Poe blanched in horror as he saw who it was for. “Finn, this one is for you!”

The man looked away from Poe to grab his gift, and all he could do was sit, frozen, and watch as Finn tore the wrapping of his subpar gift. When he saw the snow globe, he stopped, staring at the box. Poe squirmed. God. He hated it, he absolutely hated it. He had given someone a bad gift. Now Poe was going to have to run away and go into exile, start an alpaca farm up in the mountains, grow a beard, and never binge watch another Netflix series again.

“This is amazing!” Finn exclaimed, shocking Poe right out of his dramatic narrative. “I... This is beautiful!” He was still gazing at the snow globe, and Poe felt his worry melt into elation at the way Finn was smiling. “Who got this for me?”

He looked around at the others, all of whom shook their heads with smiles. Eventually he looked at Poe, the question in his eyes. Poe smiled a little, shrugging. “It was me, buddy.”

“It was?” Finn sounded delighted. “Poe! This is an amazing gift!”

“You like it?” Poe asked, beaming.

“Well, I did say it was amazing _twice_ , so I’d say yeah, I like it.” Finn said, his sarcasm offset by the massive grin on his face.

Poe smiled at him and waited for the last of the gifts to be handed out before nodding his head, walking with Finn outside of the office so that they could talk properly.

When the two were finally outside, both still holding their gifts. It was a little awkward, admittedly, and the two exchanged a few nervous smiles.

“So--”

“So--”

The two laughed, and Finn shook his head.

“We gotta stop doing that.” he said, smiling at Poe before looking down at his own gift. “Thank you, for the snow globe. It really is beautiful. And Big Ben… how did you know I wanted something to do with London?”

Poe smiled sheepishly, shrugging. “Jess asked Rey about you. What about you, how did you know I loved Star Trek?”

Now Finn looked sheepish. “Same. Rey asked Jess about you.”

Poe chuckled, shaking his head. “Did you know they were together then?” When Finn shook his head, he just grinned. “Me neither.” A thought occurred to him and he hummed. “And the mall, were you there…”

“Buying your present?” Finn finished for him, nodding when Poe nodded. “Yeah, I was. And is it safe to assume you were doing the same thing?”

Poe nodded. “That would be a very safe assumption, yes. And thank you for the gift, it really is amazing. I feel like I made you think I hated it.”

“I was a little worried yeah. You weren’t very enthused about it, I thought something was wrong.”

Poe grimaced. “Yeah, sorry… It was a great gift, I was just worried that my gift wouldn’t be as good, so then I’m like ‘Oh no, he’s going to hate it’”

“Hate it?” Finn seemed to be a mix between amusement and disbelief. “I could never hate something you got me!”

Poe’s mind went blank at that and he blinked. “Huh?”

Finn seemed to catch his slip too late and bit his lip. “Right. Well. Ah. It’s just, ah, I’ve heard you’re a really great gift giver, and, hm. Well you… I think you’re…” Poe waited, face heating as he started to dare to imagine what Finn was going to say. “I think you’re handsome!” he blurted out suddenly, clapping a hand over his mouth. They stared at each other with wide eyes, both trying to process what was just said.

“You… think I’m handsome?” Poe asked slowly, disbelief and delight slowly fighting to take control over his mind.

Finn nodded, looking absolutely mortified. “Yeah. And, uh, I like you. Like, _like_ like you.”

“That’s a lot of likes,” Poe joked before he could stop himself. Finn shot him an amused look. “Sorry. But, uh, I like you too. That’s why,” he gestured at the globe, “I was worried. I wanted to give you a good gift.”

The corners of Finn’s lips curled up and a bright, if not blinding, smiling overtook his features. Poe was enamoured almost instantly, and, though it hurt his pride a little, he felt a strong desire to just… swoon. “You… like me?”

Poe nodded quickly. “Yeah. Like, _like_ like you.”

Finn snorted, shaking his head. “Yeah yeah, whatever. Make fun of me all you want.”

“I’m not!” Finn raised a brow and Poe shrugged good-naturedly. “Okay, it was funny, but I mean it in the best way.”

“Sure, Poe,” The other said teasingly, rolling his eyes. “I see how it is.” He made a show of crossing his arms and looking away from Poe.

“Aw, come on, don’t do that,” Poe protested. Finn hummed a little, pursing his lips. “Don’t pout when you ignore me, it’s cute and that’s very unfair.”

Finn couldn’t help but smile at that, turning to look at him again. “Cute, huh?”

“Yeah,” Poe said honestly, knowing now that he could be truthful. “Really cute. It’s not fair for you to be cute when I can barely see you.”

“Oh? Well, if you want, we can go get coffee, that way you can see me.” Poe raised his eyebrows at the offer, grinning.

“Yeah? We could just go right now, if you want. I’m sure they won’t miss us for too long.” He suggested, nodding his head towards the door. 

Finn smiled, offering his hand. “I’d like that. Let’s go.”

Poe beamed, taking the hand and squeezing it. “Yeah, let’s go." As they set off, he added. "Hey, I'm throwing a Christmas party next week, if you're interested."

Finn nodded, smiling at him. "I'll drop by. Do I need to bring a gift?" He asked wryly.

"No, I think you're good," Poe chuckled, swinging their entwined hands a little.

With that, the two set off down the hallway, each with one hand holding their gift, and the other hand holding the hand of the gift giver himself.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm probably going to do this one from Finn's perspective later on


End file.
